Rio Salado — Restaurant in Stonington

OMG!!!! LOVE THIS RESTAURANT!!! INCREDIBLE MEXICAN FOOD!!! OUTSTANDING SERVICE!!! GREAT DECOR/AMBIANCE!!! We had some of the BEST MEXICAN FOOD EVER there and I am a West Coast Gal born and bred and LOVE Mexican Food so that is saying A LOT!!! My boyfriend is from the East Coast and we've both been spoiled from the West Coast Mexican Food...

We had been to Mystic several times and seen this place but this is the first time we tried it being leery of "East Coast Mexican Cuisine" and OMG!!! IT WAS OFF THE CHARTS FANTASTIC!!!! We had an INCREDIBLE Server, Drew French, who was SOOOO knowledgeable and SOOOO helpful in his recommendations!!! He went above and beyond to bring us samples of various sauces and meats he recommended and he was RIGHT ON TARGET!!! He was accommodating, kind, friendly, attentive, personable and enhanced our experience exponentially!!! My boyfriend had the Enchiladas Suizas and moaned with delight (and he had been so saddened with the state of East Coast Mexican Cuisine offerings....) and I had the Surf and Turf Burrito with Lobster...my mouth was having a culinary orgasm!!!! We had fabulous guacamole and chips and salsa and Pineapple Habanero Wings for Appetizers!!!

Then after dinner the manager, Luke, took us on a private tour of their new "Speak Easy" Private Membership club in the basement which is simply Beautiful!!! and if we lived there we would consider joining...Luke was a doll and also very accommodating to take us on the tour....

I also had a Pomegranate Margarita with salt on the rim and it was DELISH!!! I usually opt for blended ones but "on the rocks" is the only option here but I loved it!!!

I have to say that I wrote an even longer more detailed review that I lost by going back to look up the menu for the proper names so I tried my best to recreate it but honestly I could go on and on and on about this place!!! I am LITERALLY salivating just writing about it....it was JUST THAT GOOD!!! The entire experience...from the SERVICE!!! to the Decor!!!! to the INSANELY EXCELLENT FOOD!!! Etc....

I can't recommend it enough...if we could give it 20 Stars or more we would!!! I almost don't want to rave about it for fear of it becoming too popular and being too busy/booked next time we're in town....but I can't keep quiet about this exquisite gem of a dining experience!!!! DO NOT MISS IT!!!!! A TRUE CULINARY TREASURE IN MYSTIC, CT!!!! GIVE YOURSELF THIS GIFT!!!...

As many others have said, the food is horrible. The lack of seasoning in every ingredient was sad. I don’t even know how some of this stuff can have so little flavor. Beans, flavorless black mush, rice is bland and not traditional, salsa bland, corn tortillas not double but singles, pico tasted like the water in tomatoes. the best part of the meal was the lime crema or sour cream with lime…Everything lacked salt, seasoning, spice… I’d be disappointed if the meal had cost $12 let alone $45+. The entire place is cringy and gimmicky. They give you your overpriced ticket in a cigar box, I don’t know how the servers can keep a straight face. My bet the owner is some 55 year old white guy (rand) who promised to let his wife (nance) decorate and create the menu (she thought everything was spicy). The cucumbers with Tajin… I would’ve rather been given a middle finger to start my meal. With complete respect I cannot fathom how this place has more than a 2 star rating. The 3, 4 & 5 star reviews must be the whitest boomers to ever exist. I truly meant this respectfully with no malice, I have never left a review in my life and this was so bad I had to. Instead of just complaining I’d like to offer a suggestion, redo the menu and include spice/seasoning levels to appeal to more people… I know some people find salt spicy, give people the option to eat unseasoned food but don’t make EVERYONE suffer. Reduce the price by 25%, add more options for entrees. Get rid of everything gimmicky, cucumbers, tap water pitcher, cigar box, battery operated table candle. Reduce the number of tables by a bit, the table next to us were close enough I could hear them breathe. If you’re going to serve tacos in so many small dishes and rice and beans in another give more space on the tables. Finally, if someone is spending $20 on 3 tacos it should come with rice and beans. I’ve had $1 tacos that would make a person cry tears of joy, and you’re charging $7, do you have lead poisoning? Taco Bell genuinely has better Hispanic food….. this place has a lot of...

This is my restaurant of choice when meeting friends between my home in RI and my previous home in CT. I have been going here frequently over the past 3 years. However when I was there two weeks ago I had a terrible experience. The food was terrific so no complaint there. We sat out on the deck.... it usually is a bit quieter out there without the piped music. However this time the music was also quite loud even on the outside deck. Then a car horn in the parking lot directly adjacent started going off. Every 2 mins it would sound off for 60 secs making it impossible to talk. I figured the staff would do something about it since the restaurant was not crowded and it would not be difficult to figure out whose car it was. However nothing was done and the horn continued to go off intermittently for 15 mins. Then I noticed the women at the table next to ours asking the waitress to look into the issue. Nothing happened and 5 mins later I asked the bus boy for help. Still nothing happened and when the waitress returned to our table 5 mins later there was a very awkward confrontation between her and one of the patrons at my table. He asked her repeatedly to do something about the horn and she said nothing could be done as she had already tried to handle it. He explained that it was impossible to talk when the horn was going off (group of 6). She again repeated that there was nothing she could do. It was a very strange response? However shortly there after a staff member came out on the deck, shook his head and the horn stopped blowing. There was no visit to our table to explain anything. Whenever I make a reservation at Rio Salado I always get an email the next day asking for a review and it typically is good ...however this time I conveyed what had happened with the poor staff performance to them. After sending that review I received the chatgpt generated response saying they were looking into it and...